Syndem founder Qing-Chang Zhong wins 2026 IET Achievement Medal

Syndem LLC said founder and CEO Qing-Chang Zhong received the 2026 Achievement Medal from the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London on Oct. 16. The award highlights his work on SYNDEM architecture and virtual synchronous machines as those technologies move from research into standards, field tests and commercial use.

Why it matters: - The IET medal recognizes work that helped define how power-electronics-heavy grids can stay stable as renewable energy, storage, data centers and flexible demand expand. - Zhong’s research has moved beyond theory into demonstrations, products and standards that could shape autonomous power systems.

What happened: - Syndem LLC said founder and CEO Qing-Chang Zhong received a 2026 Achievement Medal from the Institution of Engineering and Technology at a ceremony in London on Oct. 16. - The IET cited Zhong’s “field-defining contribution” in creating the Synchronized-and-Democratized architecture and Virtual Synchronous Machine technologies. - The recognition covered an integrated body of engineering contributions to power-electronics-enabled autonomous power systems.

The details: - The IET traces its origins to the Society of Telegraph Engineers founded in 1871 and later became the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1889. - The organization has more than 157,000 professionals in 148 countries. - IET Achievement Medals honor exceptional contributions to science, engineering and technology. - Zhong’s SYNDEM architecture is designed to let heterogeneous resources coordinate system operation without continuous centralized control or high-speed communication for basic synchronization. - Zhong began synchronverter work in 2008 and later advanced self-synchronization, control and stability research. - Zhong’s 2011 paper, “Synchronverters: Inverters That Mimic Synchronous Generators,” ranks among the top three most-cited non-survey papers in the first 44 years of IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. - Zhong’s 2016 IEEE Power Electronics Magazine cover story, “Virtual Synchronous Machines: A Unified Interface for Grid Integration,” ranked among that magazine’s top two most-cited and most-popular papers. - At the 2017 IFAC World Congress, Zhong delivered the sole power-systems lecture among 11 plenary and semi-plenary presentations. - State Grid Corporation of China independently implemented a 140 MW VSM demonstration at Zhangbei in 2017. - That demonstration followed Zhong’s earlier UK-based technical leadership and collaboration with State Grid’s research community. - SYNDEM and VSM were cited during the 2018 U.S. House hearing “The Electric Grid of the Future.” - Zhong initiated and chaired IEEE Std 2988-2024, the first international standard dedicated to virtual synchronous machines. - The standard was completed nine months ahead of schedule with 97% approval and published in January 2025. - IEEE Spectrum reported on Zhong’s work in 2013 and 2017 and published a Zhong-led expert feature in 2025. - Zhong is professor emeritus at Illinois Institute of Technology, where he held the Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professorship in Energy and Power Engineering and Management for 12 years. - He previously held chair professorships at Loughborough University and the University of Sheffield. - Earlier recognition included Highly Commended status for the synchronverter at the 2009 IET Innovation Awards and a Royal Academy of Engineering/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship in 2009-2010. - Zhong became a Fellow of the IET in 2010, IEEE in 2017 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2025. - Zhong also served as a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Power Electronics Society, IEEE Control Systems Society and IEEE Power and Energy Society.

Between the lines: - The award signals that Zhong’s work has crossed a key boundary from academic research to engineering infrastructure. - Standardization, public-sector demonstrations and commercial deployments suggest the field is maturing around a common technical framework. - The progression from converter-level control to grid-scale coordination is the main engineering story behind the recognition.

What's next: - Syndem said it will keep translating SYNDEM and VSM research into engineering solutions for power systems. - The company is building on field validation, physical converter products, research kits and education tools. - In March 2026, Syndem announced a strategic partnership with OPAL-RT to connect physical converter technologies with real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing. - Syndem’s VSM products have been sold to customers in three countries. - Its research and educational kits have reached institutions in more than ten countries. - Syndem completed DOE-supported field tests involving 20 VSM-equipped converters. - The company delivered 30 VSM units to Binghamton University in April 2023 for another DOE-supported project. - A reconfigurable 108-converter SYNDEM research testbed was built and commissioned at Texas Tech University using Syndem kits. - More information is available at syndem.com.

The bottom line: - Zhong’s medal caps a nearly 20-year run of research, demonstrations and standard-setting that helped turn autonomous power systems from an idea into an emerging engineering platform.